Factors affecting human self-control in a local versus global choice paradigm

Abstract

Recently, Rachlin (1995a) has criticised the traditional smaller-sooner vs. larger-later model of self-control on the grounds that it fails to capture many of the essential characteristics of the situations to which the everyday language sense of self-control is usually applied. Rachlin's alternative model sees self-control as choosing to act in ways that deliver relatively small immediate (local) rewards but that contribute to a larger overall (global) pattern of reward. The choice procedure of Herrnstein, Loewenstein, Prelec, and Vaughan (1993) offers a laboratory-based instantiation of these conditions. This thesis is concerned with the examination of factors that may affect human choice between local and global rewards.

The thesis reports four experiments that used the Herrnstein et al. (1993) paradigm to examine how cognitive and motivational factors may affect human choice. Overall, participants were found to be relatively insensitive to the global contingency. In Experiment 1, rewards were based on accumulating points. Participants preferred local reward when the difference in local rates was larger, but the provision of prospective and social comparative information reduced local choice. In Experiments 2 to 4, rewards were based on minimising delay. Experiment 2 manipulated the difference in local rates but the results were inconclusive. Experiment 3 found that global choice was increased by the provision of explicit delay information but that the rate at which the rewards changed between trials had no effect within the parameters studied. Experiment 4 found that the provision of a written description of the contingencies increased global choice relative to a control group but that a forced-choice training procedure did not. Generally, global strategies increased with awareness of the global contingency. Results are discussed in relation to Skinner's (1969) distinction between contingency-shaped and rule-governed behaviour.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record

ASCII CitationAtomBibTeXData Cite XMLDublin CoreDublin CoreEP3 XMLEndNoteHTML CitationHTML CitationHTML ListJSONMETSMODSMPEG-21 DIDLOpenURL ContextObjectOpenURL ContextObject in SpanRDF+N-TriplesRDF+N3RDF+XMLRIOXX2 XMLReferReference ManagerSimple Metadata